Broad Spectrum Legalisation – From the Bigger Picture to the Last Little Leaf
It was a historic day when the New York Times decided to come out of the Cannabis closet and declare their support for the legalisation movement. Most major news commentary sites carried the story.
We all know the truth but the naysayers are out there keeping us on our toes. The American prohibitionists are covered in the two articles above. In South Africa, support for Cannabis prohibition usually comes in the form of religious groups or drug rehab facilities. It doesn’t help to feed the machine and on-the-ground activists are always advised to be polite and know their stuff. However, as someone once said, “Know Thy Enemy”. Have the solid answers on the tip of your tongue and a good way to start is by familiarising yourself with the answers on our FAQ page. Prohibitionists are very much part of the bigger picture.
Talking about big, an Industrial Cannabis field is a large affair. As stated on our Industrial Cannabis page “Industrial Cannabis production needs to be kept separate, but not exclusive, from discussions around other varieties of this plant. Low THC Cannabis requires a huge amount of plants for sustainable production and this, together with very specific processing methods, needs to be taken into account when considering the outcomes of challenging the law.” Through a fortuitous set of encounters, Fields of Green for ALL has the opportunity to set up our very own “Hemp” trial. We do not want to divulge too many details at this early stage but if you are a “hempie”, be sure to join The Green Network to follow the process of our permit application.
Cannabis legalisation efforts cannot afford to be mediocre in any way. As we’re zooming in from the bigger picture, this middle ground belongs to building awareness around Cannabis legalisation in South Africa. The Dagga Couple’s re-legalisation petition has 16475 signatures and support on social media grows daily with Facebook leading the pack at 26395 likes (* at the time of writing this article). It’s not enough. Our success depends on huge public awareness and support, not only on social media. Speak up, spread the word and let’s move this aspect of our efforts up a notch. Fields of Green for ALL and our affiliates are always very keen to speak to the media. Ask your journo / media / networking contacts to get hold of us or write to the media yourself. We would like to get to the point where it is impossible to load all the content on our Media page. Imagine if we were forced to hire a press secretary to handle the flood!
Heading inwards towards the microcosm that operates within our own bodies… There have been great strides made in the field of Cannabis and health in South Africa of late. The medicine remains illegal but South Africans are waking up to the effectiveness of this very special plant to treat a wide variety of illnesses AND to keep those illnesses at bay. There is an underground, word of mouth, movement around this subject and it is very frustrating that such amazing, deeply knowledgeable individuals continue to be vilified as the “black market” – down and dirty criminals. We have to take the rough with the smooth when it comes to media coverage but the subject of arsenic in Cannabis oil has been playing on our minds. This came up in a feature within Special Assignment on SABC3 in April has been playing on our minds. In an effort to discredit the “black market” in the interests of promoting regulation, the message came across that sick people are being exposed to arsenic in Cannabis oil. As a follow up to his article on concentrates in our March newsletter, Simon Loxton, a Fields of Green for ALL director, has set the record straight. “The Conscience of Cannabis Concentrates“
We’re almost through the winter so plans are afoot to get out and about in Spring. Please stay in touch with your news of events in your area, Fields of Green for ALL and our affiliates would love to hear from you.
Myrtle, Janine, Jules, William, Simon & Werner
Thank you to our FGA Affiliates who help to make our ongoing content creation possible!
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